(Money/ICR poll, March 1) - The first in a series of MONEY/ICR polls of the so-called 'investor class' -- the roughly half of American households who own investments and are already being courted by both parties as an emerging political force -- finds that investors say Democratic candidate John Kerry (with 41 percent) would be a better manager of the U.S. economy over the next four years than George Bush (with 40 percent).

The poll also found that American investors -- even the most affluent who make $75,000 or more -- say that containing health care costs and controlling the deficit are far more pressing economic concerns for the country than cutting taxes. The poll found 36 percent of investors say they are Republican, 33 percent Democrat and 26 percent Independent.

"We think investor households -- which may account for as many as 125 million Americans -- are absolutely worth watching, not least because they might surprise us this year," said MONEY Managing Editor, Bob Safian.

"Already, this first poll has given us a great deal to think about: We've found that the most affluent investors -- the only segment where a majority says they're better off than they were a year ago -- also tell us in great numbers that they are much more worried about the deficit and paying for their health care than they are about tax cuts."

When asked about scandals on Wall Street and in the mutual fund industry, fully 71 percent of investors said that outside regulators should oversee the industry, while 22 percent said the financial industry should regulate itself.

Household income seems to have been a factor in investors' choice of which candidate would better manage the economy through 2008, with a majority of the least affluent households clearly favoring Bush and the most affluent picking Kerry. In investor households making under $25,000, Bush (50 percent) was the clear choice over Kerry (39 percent). In investor households making $25-50,000, the candidates were nearly even and in more affluent households ($50-75k), Bush (44 percent) was the favorite over Kerry (38 percent). However, among the most affluent, ($75k and above), Kerry, with 45 percent, was the clear favorite over Bush, with 39 percent.

Overall, 40 percent of investors say their personal financial situation is better than it was a year ago, 17 percent report they are worse off, and 42 percent say that their situation is about the same. Only among the most affluent group of investors—those with a household income of $75,000 or more—did a slight majority, 53 percent, report that they are better off than they were a year ago. A majority of all investors with an income of under $75,000 say their personal financial situation is either about the same or worse than at this time a year ago. Seniors (23 percent) were far more likely to say they are worse off than other investors and only 6 percent of the youngest investors (18-34) said they were worse off.

When asked which of four issues—health care costs, deficit control, tax cuts, or funding for defense and homeland security—is the most country's most pressing economic concern, a resounding 44 percent of investors said containing health care costs was most pressing, followed by controlling the deficit (30 percent). Distant runners-up were cutting taxes (11 percent), and increasing funds for defense and homeland security (9 percent). The mounting deficit is particularly worrisome to more affluent investors: 32 percent of middle class investors ($50-75k) say deficit control is the most pressing issue and fully 35 percent of affluent investors ($75k or more) picked deficit control as most pressing.

The MONEY/ICR Investor Class poll found that a majority of all investors of any income level—55 percent —ranging from those who make under $25, 000 to those households making $75,000 or more—agree that paying for health care is much more worrisome than losing their jobs, paying their debt, or losing money in the market. By comparison, only 15 percent of investors said they were worried about losing their job and only 12 percent said they were worried about losing money in the market.

Fully 55 percent of the least affluent investor households surveyed (those under $25,000) said paying for health care was their biggest economic worry and 51 percent of the most affluent investors agreed with them. In fact MONEY/ICR poll found that in both the general population and among investors, health care cost worries are pervasive across the board—regardless of income level.

The Money/ICR poll was conducted with a nationwide sample of 556 male and female investors between February 11 and 15, 2004. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.08 percent. "Investors" for the ICR study were defined as anyone who said yes to the following question: "Do you have or own stocks, mutual funds, bonds, a 401(k) account or an Individual Retirement Account (IRA)?"

The poll was fielded by International Communications Research (ICR) using its EXCEL telephone omnibus survey of adults. ICR is one of the nation's leading market and opinion research firms and is headquartered in Media, Pennsylvania. For more information on this methodology please go to: http://www.icrsurvey.com/omni_srv.html.

Published by Time Inc., MONEY was launched in October 1972 with an initial circulation of 225,000. Today, MONEY is the largest financial publication in the world with a paid circulation of 1.9 million and a total monthly readership of more than 7 million.